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Sunday, March 6, 2016

I'm super excited about my latest pair of socks! Aren't they gorgeous? I really wish I had finished them in time for Christmas, but now I have them ready for next year.

The reason I love these socks so much is the fabulous afterthought heel that doesn't interrupt the stripe pattern on the sock. I love working with self-striping yarn, but I have always hated how it gets messed up at the heel and gusset of the sock. I've seen afterthought heels done in some Craftsy classes, but I never thought it would be for me. I was wrong! I'm hooked.

This particular heel is a little scary because instead of using waste yarn to set up the heel opening when you are knitting the sock, you knit the whole sock and then go back and snip a hole in it where you want your heel. So cool!

After you snip the stitch, you just unravel and pick up the stitches from there!

This afterthought heel is worked exactly the same as the toe of the sock. No short rows! Yay! And it fits like a glove. Can't wait until next Christmas!

Saturday, March 5, 2016

I was so excited the first time I saw these socks advertised on Knit Picks, so I bought the yarn and pattern immediately! Then.... the supplies lingered in my stash for longer than I care to admit before I finally got the courage to start them. I have never done a fair isle project quite this extensive before and I kept putting it off. Anyway, in the end, it wasn't that hard at all and I love the result! Yay!

I love how these have so many colors in them, but I only had to use two yarns: one solid and one variegated. It looks so much more impressive and difficult then it really is. (At least to non-knitters). I usually don't like short row heels, but these ones didn't turn out bad. Maybe I am getting better at them. Usually mine are bumpy and holey and no fun.